San Francisco Opera

Gounod’s Faust remains the most famous operatic treatment of Goethe’s play. Orchestral excerpts from the work include the ballet scene from the fifth act, the Nubian dances, Cleopatra variations, Trojans’ dance, Mirror variations and dance of Phryne. The second act includes Valentine’s O sainte médaille (O holy medal), as he looks at the holy medal Marguerite has given him as protection in battle. The same scene brings Le veaux d’or (The golden calf) of Mephistopheles, in praise of worldly things and ends with the Faust waltzAinsi que la brise légère (As the gentle breeze). In the next act, after Siebel’s Faites-lui mes aveux (Take to her my vows), comes Faust’s ecstatic song to the house of his beloved Marguerite, Salut! demeure chaste et pur (Hail! Dwelling chaste and pure) and Marguerite’s innocent ballad Il était un roi de Thulé (There was a King of Thule). This is in marked contrast to her delighted Jewel Song, Ah! je ris de me voir si belle (Ah! I laugh to see myself so fair). In her garden she plucks the petals of a flower to see if Faust loves her, and later, in a night of love, admits Il m’aime (He loves me). The desolate and ominous opening of the fourth act is followed by the sound of returning soldiers and the well known Soldiers’ Chorus Gloire immortelle (Immortal glory), leading to the duel scene and the death of Valentine. (excerpted from Naxos)

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